Secrecy
by Serena530
Summary: What would happen if Harry wasn't close friends with Ron and Hermione, what if they did something so terrible that he could no longer trust them...or anyone else? What if he were smarter then he let on? What if he had secrets? Mature Harry & Ginny, Manipulating Dumbledore, suicidal thoughts & abusive childhood.
1. Broken Trust & A New Friendship

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Harry Potter or his characters, and have no right to it except as a long time fan.**

**Secrecy**

_**Broken Trust & A New Friendship**_

He sat in the grass leaning against a thick tree near the lake reading his transfiguration text book, his book bag sitting next to him, just relaxing in the cool breeze of the receding summer when he noticed someone slowly approaching him. He sighed, wondering if he was going to have to get up and leave to get away from one of his so called _friends_ again. He was getting more than a little irritated at having to repeat himself over and over again. Why couldn't they just understand that he needed time alone? If they were such _good friends_ why couldn't they respect his wishes?

_Are they actually good friends though?_ It was only four weeks into his second year at Hogwarts and Harry had come to the disturbing realization that his two closest friends were not in fact good friends at all. He didn't even know if they really _were _his friends. Ron and Hermione were the first two real friends he had ever made, and what he had recently learned had thrown his small world into chaos. So much so, that he felt he could no longer trust them…or anyone else in the castle for that matter.

"Ummm…H..Harry?" he heard a quiet voice stutter, breaking him out of his thoughts and causing him to remember the person who had been approaching him and put him in that line of thinking in the first place.

Harry looked up and to his surprise saw Ginny Weasley standing near him, staring at her feet with a blush on her surprisingly determined face. He was shocked and surprised that she had come to him and was actually talking to him, when at almost all other times she seemed too shy and embarrassed to even look at him.

"Ginny." he greeted her, his surprise clear in his voice.

"I…Harry…" Ginny gave a frustrated sigh and took a deep breath. She let it out slowly and lifted her eyes to Harry's face. She was determined to say what she had to say no matter the consequences. "Harry I just wanted to say that…that you shouldn't pull away from everyone the way you have. The professors are starting to worry and…" she paused in hesitation before forcing herself to say what was on her mind before she lost her courage and ran away. "and so am I." She blushed again, but continued on.

"I hear the professors talking when they think no one is listening. And they're starting to worry even though it hasn't really been that long. I…I don't know why you're doing this, and it's none of my business, but I just wanted you to know that they'll probably start to get on your case about it if you keep going on by yourself and ignoring everyone."

Harry was even more surprised at her words. Not just surprised but shocked as well. She had hardly stuttered and she hadn't run away before she finished. She had seemed determined to say what she said to the point where she had actually looked like she had forced herself to spit the words out.

_She was worried about me_. He thought to himself with a little wonder. _I mean I know she likes me, but this is the first time she's seemed concerned. And she did just come and talk to me. I wonder how long she's been wanting to say this. What am I supposed to say to her?_ he wondered as he continued to look up at her. Maybe he should tell her why he was doing it, so she wouldn't be concerned anymore. _But can I trust her with that information?_ he asked himself. He had a feeling he could and he was beginning to learn to trust his gut feeling. Especially since he felt he couldn't trust anything else.

"I know that they most likely will, but this is something I have to do." he said with a weary sigh. "Come here; sit down with me." he said, and watched her hesitate a moment before sitting next to him on the grass.

"I've learned something that has…has disturbed me and changed the way I think and see people." he started slowly, in a quiet voice. "Do you know what Legilimency is?" he asked her and watched her shake her head with a frown. "It's a skill that lets a person have access to the feelings and memories in a person's mind. It also allows a person to show visions or memories to another person. So basically a person who has this skill can pretty much get into someone's mind, see all the memories they've ever had, tell if they're lying or if they're not what they seem to be, and plant fake memories if they want." he explained.

"Wow! That…that's…" Ginny trailed off, unable to come up with the right words to express her feelings on this new information.

"It's kinda brilliant…and a bit scary." he said in a sort of disbelieving tone. He was still getting used to it. "And I learned during the first week of term that I have this skill." he whispered and heard Ginny's very audible gasp. "Yeah. I was shocked too. I didn't know what was happening. I thought I was going mental." he said as he shook his head lightly. "The first time it happened it was like…the second or third day of term. I was hanging out with Ron and Hermione and I looked at Ron because he was going on about something. I looked at him, right into his eyes, and that's when it happened. It was like…like I was remembering something, only I knew that it wasn't my memory because it wasn't familiar…and I wasn't even in it!" he explained.

"It was in the headmaster's office. Ron was standing in front of his desk, but Ron looked a bit different. Just a bit younger. And I'd recognized the robe the headmaster was wearing. It was the same one he wore at the sorting feast in my first year. What they were talking about completely shocked me. The headmaster said….."

"…_Now Mr. Weasley, do you understand what I am asking you to do?" The headmaster asked gently with a twinkle in his eye._

"_I think so. You want me to be his friend…his best friend, and to make sure he stays on the right path." Ron said. "That shouldn't be too hard. We got along great on the train, but…how do I know if he's on the right path or not?" he asked._

"_Don't worry about that. I'll help you. All I need you to do is inform me of anything unusual that happens around the two of you, and simply tell me about your day."_

"I came back to reality after that. I was confused about why I had just seen that, but shocked at the same time. I mean it's not hard to understand who they were talking about. It's not like Ron had made any other friends on the train that day." he said with a frown. "I left after that. I went up to my dorm room to try and make sense of it. To try to figure out why I had seen that, and why Professor Dumbledore would want something like that. I thought it might be stress about wanting to start off this year right. You know…get good grades and not have to worry about stressing over homework when quidditch training starts." he explained with a shrug.

"I ended up thinking about it for so long that I began to think that I had imagined it. I mean why would the headmaster want something like that? And Ron wouldn't do something like that right? So I figured I would just pretend like I had never seen anything, but I would try and see if there was anything in the library that explained what happened just in case it wasn't my imagination." he sighed. "Then later that week it happened again. I looked into Ron's eyes and suddenly…"

"_Here you are Mr. Weasley." the headmaster said as he handed Ron a bag of chocolate frogs. "These should last you a few weeks. I trust you remember to use them should he go off the right path and do things we don't think is right?"_

"_Yes Professor. I remember." Ron answered as he nodded his head confidently. He had spent all of last year making sure Harry stayed on the path of the light. It wouldn't do for The Boy Who Lived to turn dark. He had made sure to tell the headmaster everything he and Hermione did with Harry no matter how small it was or if he thought they would get in trouble for it._

"_And don't worry. You'll be getting your payment. It will go straight into your family vault like last term." the headmaster assured him._

"When I came back to reality after that I just got up and walked away without saying anything. I had realized that the person I thought was my best friend had been paid to be my friend and had been lying to me for more than a year. And worst…I realized that I had forgotten all about the first time that had happened." he explained in a betrayed tone. "It wasn't like the kind of thing where it suddenly slips your mind because you've been too busy. After this second time it was like the memory of the first time and all the thinking I had done had suddenly been placed back in my mind or had been unblocked." he continued.

Harry explained how after that last unexpected visit to her brothers mind, he had immediately started to distance himself from everyone. Student and professor alike because he had no idea who else had been in on the whole thing. He began to go over his memories of his first year and remembered how there had been so many things that he had not wanted to do but had found himself doing anyway.

He briefly explained to her all about the sorcerer's stone and all the clues and running around they had done to try and stop whoever had been after it, and told her that he had never wanted any part of it. He had been curious at first about what it was that had been hidden in the vault, but once they figured it out he had wanted to move on, especially after learning that Voldemort was still out there and after it as well. The last thing he wanted was to give the dark wizard a chance to finish what he started.

He had remembered other incidents throughout the year that he hadn't wanted to deal with but had found himself going on with it as if it had been his idea all along. He would find himself wanting to do something and after talking to Ron or eating something that he gave him he would suddenly want to do something else instead. Usually what Ron wanted to do. As he analyzed his memories he realized that he couldn't trust his friends, especially Hermione because he thought that she of all people should have seen the differences in him.

Ginny was shocked and outraged. How could the headmaster and Ron, _Ron_, her own brother, do that to him? It was horrible. She hardly had any words to express exactly how she was feeling about everything Harry had explained to her so far. She was insanely happy that he was opening up to her and that, more importantly, he trusted her enough to tell her these things. But she was sad for him as well. It sounded as if he had had his free will taken from him and had no idea why. And she couldn't believe her brother would do something like that! And it sounded as if he had done it for money. _Money! _

She felt shame for her brother. She wasn't stupid. She knew that Ron had issues with their family not being all that wealthy, heck she admitted to having some issues with it now that she was at Hogwarts, but for him to take money to be someone's best friend. That should have been beneath him not just as a Weasley but as a Gryffindor as well. But then she supposed that it must have taken a massive amount of courage to accept money in exchange for manipulating The Boy Who Lived.

"That's not all." she heard Harry say, cutting into her thoughts. "I also realized that it happened whenever I tried to talk to you." he confided, and Ginny froze in disbelief as she stared into the green eyes she admired so much. "Every time I tried to go talk to you, Ron would stop me. Either he would start talking to me before I could walk over to you, or he would come divert me when I was on my way over to you, or he would even cut in when I had managed to get to you without interruption. Do you remember those times?" he asked.

All Ginny could do was nod sadly. She remembered because it was no secret how she felt about him, and she was always watching him when he was in the same area as her. She remembered all the times she would blush furiously at being caught staring at him, but then suddenly feeling like her heart would pound its way out of her chest as she watched him start to walk toward her, and then feel her small world shatter when Ron distracted him pulling him in another direction.

"After going over my memories I realized that that had been going on as far back as the summer when Ron and the twins brought me to spend the rest of the summer with your family." he explained with a sighed.

He was quiet for a while as he thought about all he had just said to Ginny. He didn't feel any reluctance to tell her and no regret what so ever. He thought that it might have been because he knew she couldn't have been a part of it since she hadn't been at the castle at the time. Still, he had been watching her as he talked and she had been listening closely and seemed to react how he thought someone who hadn't been involved should react. Shocked and outraged. He knew the emotions well since he had been feeling them quite strongly throughout the week. Shock, outrage,…and anger.

"So that's that. I spent the beginning of the second week in the library trying to figure out why I could see into Ron's mind and eventually came across a book with a small section describing legilimecy. All it did was describe what it was, so I still have no idea how I did it. I figure I'd try and find more on it during the summer. But anyway, once I made that discovery I've been spending my time right here, hanging out in the grass under this tree." he finished quietly.

"I…I don't know what to say Harry." Ginny said quietly. She had had a hard time describing her feelings before, but now she had no idea what to think now that she knew that Ron had actively tried to keep Harry from talking to her. "I'm sorry that I have a brother that would do something like that. I'm sorry that Professor Dumbledore would do something like that. I'm sorry that you can't trust anyone anymore." she said sadly as she squeezed her hands together, watching her fingers turn white. This was the most she had ever said to him.

"Since…since you can't trust your friends, maybe you should make new ones." she suggested, and took a steadying breath. "And I'll be the first if you like." she said boldly. "I don't want you being by yourself all the time. I know that can get lonely real quick." she said sadly, having experienced that a lot being the only girl in the family and not having really made friends yet. "I can just sit with you and not talk if that's what you want." she added quietly.

"I would like that. To be your friend that is. And I want you to talk. How can we be friends if we don't even talk?" he asked with a small chuckle. "And I think your right. I'll try and make some new friends. I think I'll try the other houses to start with. At least then I can be sure that they can't stop me from talking to you." he said.

"What about Ron? I know you're not talking to him, but that won't stop him from talking to you." Ginny said thoughtfully.

"I know." he said sourly, having already dealt with him a few times since he distanced himself. "He won't stop me this time." he said fiercely. "I'll keep ignoring him or tell him to go away. There's nothing wrong with us being friends so I don't know what his problem is." he added and watched Ginny shrug her confusion as well.

"But there's something I want to get out of the way before our friendship officially starts." he said and watched Ginny look at him curiously. "Your feelings for me." he said and watched her shrink a little. "Hey it's okay. There's nothing wrong with you liking me. I just think you should put your feelings aside for a while and get to know me. I think that right now you just like The Boy Who Lived, but I would rather you like Harry Potter if you're going to like me at all." he said softly and watched her nod.

"I'm thinking that either your feelings will get stronger or they'll fade, and I'll either develop some or I won't." he explained. "I'd like it if we don't talk about our feelings again until we're sure that they won't hurt our friendship. Is that okay?" he asked a bit uncertainly.

"Yes." she said softly. Her feelings weren't hurt. He was right after all. She had a crush on him, but she didn't really know him. But that would change now that they were friends. They would get to know each other now, and hopefully she could keep talking to him like this so he could actually see her personality and not the shy, blushing, stuttering girl that runs away from him. "I…I'll do my best to try and get over…over my shyness and stuttering." she said with a smile.

"Excellent." he said with the first smile he had had since the week began.

From then on they spent their free time getting to know each other, spending more and more time together, and eventually becoming close friends. Ginny learned that Harry was smarter then he let on, and what he thought Ron and Dumbledore were up to and how he felt about it. But more importantly to her, she found out what really happened when he came to spend the end of the summer with her family. She had heard that he had been rescued, but no one had wanted to say any more than that. She also learned a little about his life with his relatives.

Harry learned that Ginny hadn't made any friends yet, and that once he got pass her shyness she was really fun and relaxing to be around. That alone was enough to make him realize that he was right to trust her. Ron and Hermione hadn't been relaxing to be around at all. If the two weren't arguing with each other, they were trying to get him to do something that they wanted to do or thought would be good for him. He also learned that Ginny really loved to fly and was just as much of a quidditch freak as most of her brothers. He found out she felt left out of her family because she was the only girl, that her brothers wouldn't let her play with them when they were little, and her mom treated her as if she was made of glass.

With all the time they were spending together and all the things they were learning about each other, it was no surprise that they quickly moved from being close friends to being best friends. They were quickly learning that they could tell each other things that they wouldn't or couldn't tell anyone else. Harry especially could tell her things that he would have been very reluctant to tell either Ron or Hermione. They could truly be themselves around each other. They could lie around and just do nothing in each other's presence without having to explain why they weren't do anything. They could simple sit with each other and not talk and still feel comfortable in the silence.

They also began to develop habits. Ginny had taken to leaning against him when they were in the common room sitting on the couch, it didn't matter if they were doing homework or just reading one of their text books. When they were outside under what they had privately dubbed "their tree" she would lay down and rest her head against his thigh, slowly over the weeks moving it into his lap. Harry for his part had developed the habit of running his fingers through her hair. He had a fascination with it. He loved the color and soft silky feel of it, not to mention it was very relaxing to him.

Throughout the weeks while their friendship was developing, Harry slowly began to let his friends back into his life. He could tell that Ron and Hermione weren't taking the shift of their friendship well. He supposed if it had been him he wouldn't have taken it well either. To suddenly find himself being push into the background by someone he consider his best friend and knew said friend considered him of equal status would have him jealous and possibly angry, especially if there was no explanation. But there was nothing Harry could do. It was his secret and he couldn't explain without telling the secret and he couldn't do that without knowing he trusted them completely.

He also took Ginny's suggestion to heart and began to make friends. Hufflepuff's, Ravenclaw's, and Gryffindor's of all years were slowly becoming his friends, and he was happy that they would be ones he could trust. He was also happy that he was talking more to one of his roommates, Neville Longbottom, and getting to know him better. After going through his memories he had realized that he had basically shunned anything other than an acquaintance with the shy boy because Ron didn't really like him all that much.

Harry was doing much better in his classes then he had the previous year. With his distance from Ron and Hermione he didn't have to worry about the red head complaining about the work or his controlling him however he had been doing it, and he didn't have to stress over Hermione's bossiness about when and what he should be studying. It also helped that he was slowly getting over the conditioning that had been done to him before Hogwarts. After all, it was hard to get good grades when you knew you would be punished because they were better than your cousins. He was happy that along with his progress Ginny was starting off her first year at Hogwarts well. He always welcomed questions when she was having trouble, and if he couldn't answer her question he would help her find it.

Although he had pushed Hermione and Ron back to just "friends" instead of best friends, he had decided to go back to spending time with them. With Hermione it was mostly just to study since that was pretty much all she did when by herself, and with Ron he went flying and played games with him when the red head was by himself. It was rare that the three of them hung out together, and he was aware that people had noticed, but he did his best to make an effort to keep up their friendship since they had been his first friends. And because Ron had truly been his best friend.

**Author's Note****: For those concerned about the whole Harry knowing Legilimency. Let me explain. When I first thought up this story I hadn't been concerned about it but when I decided to try and get it all written out and into something that could be posted, I wondered if a person could be a natural at Legilimency but not Occlumency. I always thought that you had to know Occlumency before Legilimency. And that is probably the case but for my story that's not how it's going to be. He's not going to suddenly be poking into people's minds or anything. I just needed a way for him to find out about Ron. When I first imagined the scene I hadn't even been thinking about Occlumency and Legilimency.**


	2. Unexplained Urges & Developing Feelings

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Harry Potter or his characters, and have no right to it except as a long time fan.**

**Secrecy**

_**Unexplained Urges & Developing Feelings**_

"Harry, Harry!" Ginny called over to him as she came jogging down the dormitory stairs and into the common room. She held a small black book in her hands. "Look, I completely forgot I had this. I found it in my things after we came back from getting our school supplies from Diagon Alley." she said as she opened to the first blank page. "Watch this!" she said as she grabbed his quill from his hand, dipped it briefly in the ink, and wrote on the page.

Harry watched as the words she wrote after a few moments, began to disappear into the aging parchment, and frowned as a reply appeared in its place. It seemed as if someone…or _something _was inside the book writing back to her, and he didn't like it one bit. He had a feeling there was something not right about it. The last time he had this kind of feeling, this sense that something _dark _was close, was when he was facing the soul of Voldemort.

"I don't like this." he said quietly as he closed the book, and glanced around to see if anyone was paying them any attention. "There's something not right about it. It…it feels dark." he continued as he shook his head. "You should get rid of it." he added.

Ginny frowned and looked down at the diary. She had wondered about the mysterious book after the first time she had written in it. She had wondered where it had come from since she knew she hadn't grabbed anything like it when she was getting her text books, but she had just thought her mom or dad had gotten it for her. After witnessing Harry's reaction though. She realized that that wasn't likely.

_If I had shown this to my mom or dad, what would their reaction have been?_ she asked herself, and the image that came to mind was worrying. She pictured her parent's faces paling and looking at her in concern. They would ask her where she got it from and how long she had had it. Did she use it a lot or was this the first time. It wasn't a pleasing image.

"What should I do with it? Maybe take it to Professor McGonagall?" she asked him softly as she looked back to his troubled face.

"No." he answered, shaking his head. "Send it to your dad. He works at the ministry right? He would know what to do with it. And besides, I don't trust any of the adults here to do the right thing with it. It could end up being like the stone all over again." he said wearily.

They spent the evening putting together a letter to her father explaining where she found it, what happened when she wrote in it, and Harry's suggestion to send it to him since he worked at the Ministry of Magic and would know what to do with it. They then wrapped up the diary with the letter and sent it off with Hedwig the next day and tried to put it out of their minds.

* * *

><p>Days quickly passed them by and as November began, the two preteens each began to notice that they were feeling and thinking things about each other that wasn't normal for either of them. The first year girl was too embarrassed and frankly a bit scared to say anything to her best friend, and he <em>had<em> asked her not to mention any feelings until their friendship was solid.

Harry for his part felt the same as his best friend, only he thought that the feelings were coming on a bit soon. _Too _soon for his liking seeing as how she was only his best friend and he was only 12! And the thoughts going through his mind were embarrassing and frightening. Not only were they still young, they hadn't even known each other that long.

As they sat under 'their tree' reading, Harry leaned against the bark as he ran his fingers through Ginny's hair while she rested her head on his lower thigh, soaking in the warmth of his leg. It was a nice day and quiet where they were sitting. Perfect since they seemed to be in a mood to read.

"Why do you do that all the time?" Ginny asked suddenly, looking up at him as she lay her book on her stomach. "I don't mind it. I like it. I'm just curious is all." she went on quickly.

The green-eyed boys hand paused as he considered her question. "It's relaxing and I like the feel of your hair." he answered truthfully as he resumed his relaxing action. "Do you really like it?" he asked softly as he pulled his hand up, her red locks sliding through his fingers and pooling in his lap.

"Yes. It makes me feel…things." she replied just as softly, turning her head away in embarrassment.

Her words hung in the air. The silence between them no longer comfortable, but weighted with unsaid words and mysterious feelings. Neither one of them were sure if they should continue the conversation. They weren't even sure if they _could_. Ginny was embarrassed and bit afraid of what her green-eyed friend would say, and Harry wasn't sure they were ready for such a conversation. He wasn't sure _he _was ready for such a conversation, but he was curious…

"What kind of things?" Harry asked quietly as he caught a lock of hair that tried to escape behind her ear.

"It's…they're things we're not supposed to talk about yet, only…different." she said hesitantly.

"It's okay for you to talk about them. I want to know." he assured her.

Ginny took a deep breath and sighed. As she closed her eyes she wondered how this unexpected conversation would turn out. Her feelings for the black haired, green-eyed boy hadn't changed. She was just anxious because she wasn't sure how he would take what she was about to try and explain. They were best friends now. She could tell him anything, but she wondered how this would affect their friendship if he didn't feel something more than just friendship toward her.

"When you do that…I feel like doing things that I shouldn't." she began quietly, not wanting to be overhead even though she knew they were alone. "I want to hold you. I want to touch you. I want to kiss you." she whispered, her face burning. "I hadn't felt anything like this before. With my crush I had only wanted to hold your hand and hug you, so…I'm not sure where all this is coming from."

Harry sat in silence, running his fingers through her hair, a bit stunned by what his friend had just said. He hadn't been expecting that. He hadn't been expecting anything really, but what she said had been far from what he would have guessed. He knew she was telling the truth. They had started their friendship on nothing but honesty and it was the reason they could tell each other anything. Not only that, she was embarrassed and acting shy. She couldn't even look at him as she explained what she was feeling. He was reluctant, but he would give her the truth. She had done no less for him and she deserved the same in return.

"I've been feeling the same thing." he admitted quietly and watched as her eyes flew open. "It's the main reason why I started to run my fingers through your hair. It gave me an excuse to touch you without explanation." he explain, his face red with embarrassment.

"I didn't say anything because it was embarrassing and I didn't think I was old enough for the thoughts and feelings I was having. I still don't think I'm old enough." he admitted with a slight frown. "I was also a little uncomfortable and concerned because, well…I…from what you described I've been feeling a bit more than that." he admitted, sure that his face was on fire. He couldn't believe what he was saying.

Ginny was surprised. _Does this mean he has some feelings for me that are more than friendship?_ she wondered as she looked up at him. She thought back to when he had first started to play with her hair and she realized that it hadn't been that long after they started to become much better friends. _That's around the time these…these….I don't even know what to call this. That's when they started. But that's okay. For now I want to know what he's been wanting to do. How much more could it be then what I said?_

"What have you been feeling?" she asked curiously.

Harry was more than a little reluctant at this point. What would she think? Would she think he was bad? Would she take it the wrong way? Which way _was _the wrong way? Would it be him thinking of doing something that they should in no way be doing or would she assume that he had developed feelings for her? _Had _he developed any feelings for her beyond being his best friend?

"Hey it's okay." Ginny said as she sat up and tried to catch his eye. She could tell that he was having a hard time with whatever he was thinking and wanted to stop him. "I'm just as embarrassed as you are, and don't forget that we can tell each other anything. I'm not going to get mad or scared." she assured him. "I'm glad you didn't get angry with me." she added with a shy shrug.

The green-eyed boy smiled, grateful for the distraction and the assurance. _She's right. We can tell each other anything. I just have to get it out. I just have to remember that she was probably feeling the same thing as me, and she went first._ he coached himself.

"The things I've been thinking about and wanting to do are things that…I imagine I wouldn't want to do until I was…I don't know…16, 17, 18." he began and watched as Ginny crossed her legs and made herself more comfortable. He wished she still had her head in his lap. He needed the relaxation of touching her hair.

"I feel like I want to see what you look like…without any clothes on." he whispered and watched her eyes widen in shock and surprise. "I…I want to touch your skin and see what the differences are between the two of us." he finished and couldn't help looking curiously at her chest and legs. _I can't believe I just did that!_

"Wow. I…I just…" she trailed off, speechless, her face as red as his. "That's definitely more then what I've been feeling." she began again, looking everywhere but his face. "I wonder why." she considered as she let her eyes roam over him, curious now that the idea was in her head of what he looked like under his clothes.

"You know I also didn't want to say anything because of what you had said…about not talking about feelings until later. I was also embarrassed and concerned. I didn't know if I was old enough to be feeling these things. You know like…if it was natural for my age or something, and I did think that it might have just been my feelings for you getting stronger." she admitted with a frown.

Once all the embarrassing things were said it was easier for them to talk. They discussed what was happening for hours, their books long forgotten. It continued off and on for days until they began to realize that the feelings that had suddenly been pushed into their minds had, during their discussions, begun to turn into urges. And they weren't stopping.

The troubled preteens eventually decided that they needed to do something about it before it started to interfere with their school work. They hoped that if they acted on the urges, no matter how embarrassing, they might stop. It was definitely something they would risk if it helped them clean their minds and get rid of what seemed to be permanent blushes.

They tried to figure out how they were going to go about it. They didn't want anyone to know about it, and they definitely didn't want to get caught. The only thing they knew for sure was that it would have to be on a weekend so they wouldn't have to worry about their classes. Their major problem was finding a place. The two of them worried and stressed over it for a few days but still couldn't think of a place that was private enough.

"Ugh!" Harry groaned in frustration. He and Ginny were sitting at the Gryffindor table at lunch writing back and forth to each other on a piece of parchment, suggesting places and dismissing them just as quickly. It had gotten to the point where he was extremely frustrated with their whole ordeal.

"I'm going to the loo." he said as he got to his feet. He needed a break. He had already sat there and imagined himself leaning over and doing his best to kiss her. Never mind the fact that he had no clue how to kiss a girl. He still wanted to do it, and that was why he needed a break. The last thing they needed was to make a scene in the great hall that would be all over the castle before the day was over.

Harry had only taken a few steps away from his seat when a ball of fire flashed in front of him. He flinched back in shock and caution, not wanting to walk through the sudden flames, and was surprised to see a beautiful scarlet bird with a long golden tail hovering in front of him. Then the most elegant sound flowed through his ears. He couldn't help but smile at the large bird in front of him. A quick glance around made him realize that he was the only one who could hear the music, and suddenly realized that instead of out loud he was hearing the music in his mind.

_Why me?_ he wondered as he gazed at the beautiful bird, and got the sense from the shifting rhythm of the music in his mind, that he was here to help him with his problem. He automatically held out his arm and waited for the bird to settle on his arm before continued on his way out the great hall, listening to the bird talk through the mental music.

Harry learned that the beautiful bird was a phoenix and that his name was Fawkes. He was a companion to the headmaster, but assured Harry that he did not answer to the older wizard and could do what he pleased. Fawkes had sensed his growing frustration and told him that he didn't have to worry anymore. He would take the two troubled friends to a private place where no one would know they were there. They were to make sure their dorm mates were asleep that night, go to the common room after midnight, and call for him.

_Sounds simple enough. I'll let Ginny know when I get back._ he thought happily as he arrived at the loo. _Now I just have to figure out what to tell people when I get back._ he considered, knowing that people were going to be all over him for answers. The songs rhythm shifted once again and he smiled as Fawkes gave him a simple solution. Just tell them that he wanted to meet him face to face. Harry smiled gratefully and watched as Fawkes disappeared in a burst of flames.

* * *

><p>The preteens met up in the common room as soon as the coast was clear and they were sure that their room mates were sound asleep. They were both dressed in two piece pajamas and their shoes since they didn't exactly know where they were going.<p>

"Are you ready?" Harry quietly asked his best friend as they stood in the middle of the common room.

"Yeah." Ginny sighed, and clinched her fists. Even she could hear the nervousness in her voice.

"Fawkes." Harry called loud enough as if he was talking to someone across the room. The room soon brightened for a few moments as Fawkes appeared in a burst of flames, and a brief song.

There was no need for any talk. Fawkes' song had given them their instructions. Harry and Ginny moved together, hesitating and nervous as they wrapped their arms around each other in a hug so they could travel together. Neither one wanted to admit that they could probably just hold hands to travel together.

"Ready?" the green-eyed boy asked again, and received a nod against his neck. He lifted his arm and grabbed hold of Fawkes' long golden tail.

There was a moment of pleasant warmth and then they were suddenly in a room that looked old, but seemed to be in use. The friends separated and took a look around. There were torches lit on the walls showing them that there was no dust to speak of. There was a large four poster queen sized bed with a deep red comforter, a desk with a collection of books resting on it, a large window in the center of one of the walls, and a couple of doors. The room looked like it was in the castle with all the stone work surrounding them. It seemed like a smaller version of their dorm room.

Fawkes' song filled the room, instructing them to take their time and to call when they were ready to leave, before he disappeared in a burst of flames.

The friends stood there in silence watching the shadows from the torch light, before glancing at each other and quickly looking away.

"How about we try and…and get comfortable?" Harry suggested as he pulled off his shoes and climbed into the center of the bed. He watched as Ginny nervously did the same, settling next to him in the center of the bed.

They sat there, their hands sliding along the comforter, feeling the softness as their eyes gazed around the room trying to distract themselves from their nerves and gather the courage that made them Gryffindor's. Eventually their eyes caught each other and they blushed instantly, but seemed to come to a decision at the same time. They knew that they didn't have all night and they didn't know how long they would take, so they needed to push pass their embarrassment and get on with it.

"Maybe we sh…should try just…just kiss kissing?" Ginny tried to suggest through her sudden stuttering.

Harry nodded and leaning toward her, bringing his face to hers as she watched him and copied his movements. They paused, feeling each other's breath warming their faces as they closed their eyes, and pressed their lips lightly together. They felt the softness and warmth of each other's lips, but that was all. They pulled back slightly, each with a question in their eyes, before leaning in and trying again. Softness, warmth. Again they pulled back and looked at each other.

"Did you feel anything…I don't know…different?" Harry asked before hesitantly touching his lips.

"No." Ginny answered with a frown. She had expected to feel something when she had her first kiss. Intense warmth through her body, or a tingling feeling in her lips, dragonflies in her stomach, anything! But she felt nothing. Nothing but the sensation of his soft lips against hers. _I hadn't expected his lips to be so soft._ she thought quietly as she touched her lips and then looked at his. _Not that I expected anything else._ she added with a mental shrug. _I wonder if he felt anything._ "Did you?" she asked as she pulled her focus from his lips to his eyes.

"No." he answered softly. "I don't know what I expected or if I expected anything, but there was nothing. Just…you." he added just as softly as he looked from her lips to her eyes. _Maybe we're just too young, but the thoughts are still very much there_…

Ginny nodded as she lowered her fingers from her lips, wondering what it meant that they hadn't felt anything. Did it mean that their feelings weren't strong enough? Were they just too young to feel what they were supposed to feel? But if that was the case, then why would they even have such thoughts in their heads?

"Do you think we should try something different?" she asked quietly with a slight frown.

Harry nodded and then blushed as the first thing to come to his mind was to see what was under her pajamas. Instead of trying to speak through his intense embarrassment, he simply raised his hands and began to unbutton his pajama top.

Ginny blushed to the roots of her hair as she watched her best friend/crush begin to take off his top. She should have looked away, but she forced herself to watch. That was why they were there after all and besides, she was extremely curious. As his top came off, her eyes looked at every inch of skin she could see. He was rather pale, but she liked that about him because it made his black hair and green eyes standout so much better. He was skinny but she had a feeling he would always be on the leaner side, no matter how much he ate. She was curious as to what his skin felt like, but she knew she had to make this fair before any touching started, so she began to pull her top off over her head.

Harry tossed his shirt on the floor off to the side of the bed as he watched his best friend look at his chest. His blush faded somewhat at the look on her face. He wasn't sure but she seemed to like what she saw, which made him smile for some reason. But just as quickly as it came, his smile fell and his eyes widened as he watched her pull her top off. He watched as her hair rained down over her shoulders and down her back as it came free of her shirt, his eyes continued down to look at her chest.

There wasn't really anything there like what he was used to seeing with the older girls around the castle, but they were there; just barely. They were small, tiny in fact. He imagined they were just growing in. They looked to be the shape of snitches just beginning to push through her skin, only a little bigger. His eyes traced the tiny mounds before focusing on the light pink points in the middle. He couldn't seem to pull his eyes away from them. He was incredibly curious as to what they felt like, and before he knew what he was doing his right arm lifted as if to touch her. He forced himself to stop and his eyes flashed to hers to see what she thought of his unexpected reaction to her nakedness.

Ginny was still blushing and seemed to get redder as she watched her crushes reaction to her being shirtless. As she watched his hand slowly come toward her chest she felt like her heart would pound right out for the both of them to see.

What would it feel like when he touched her? Would it feel the same as when she touched herself when she showered or would it feel different? Would he like it or would he wish there was more for him to touch? Was he old enough to even think in such a way? Was she old enough to care?

The questions came faster and faster as she watched his hand get closer and closer, but came to a stop when he did and her eyes glanced to his to see him looking at her with a question. She bit her lip, hesitant now that she understood that he was asking if he could go ahead and touch her. But again, she brought up her courage and forced her nerves aside, because this was a part of the reason why they were in the room to begin with.

"The…the same time?" she asked as she lifted her own hand toward him and watched as he nodded.

Both moved their hand forward until they came into contact with smooth warm skin. Both felt how soft and squishy the other was. They let their hands slid along each other's chest, stomach and arms in curiosity, their eyes wide and checks red. Harry was fascinated by the soft and squishiness of his best friends budding breasts, while she seemed to just like all the skin her hands could touch.

With this initial step over and done with they began to move on to removing the rest of their clothes to see what was beneath. This removal of clothing was even more embarrassing then the first since they were seeing body parts that they had never seen before, at least in Harry's sense. Ginny had six older brothers so she had seen, but not up close and in such detail. For a few moments they just stood in front of the bed and stared at each other. Both of them were red-faced and were very glad that they weren't trying to look each other in the eye.

The preteens took turns circling each other's body to get the full view and then took turns laying on the bed while the other looked and touched till they were no longer curious. However, even with all that they still weren't feeling anything other than embarrassment. Ginny did get a reaction out of Harry when she touch the little guy down south, but he told her he got that same reaction when he showered and sometimes he even woke up that way in the mornings.

"I think we should try kissing again. Maybe we'll get a different reaction since we aren't dressed." Harry suggested and watched as Ginny shrugged lightly and nodded her head.

They leaned toward each other, bringing their faces close together, but suddenly stopped as their vision seemed to blur and double before focusing on a scene that shouldn't be there, let alone possible. They saw a stone worked room with a four post bed in Gryffindor colors, clearly telling them that they were in Gryffindor tower. It was just a single bed and that confused them because they knew that the dorms had at least five beds in a room. However, their confusion was doubled and shock was added in as they realized there were people in the room. Not just any people, but what looked like older naked versions of themselves.

They looked to be in their late teens, around 16 or 17. Harry's older self stood at the foot of the bed, the backs of his legs against the mattress and his left hand clinging to the bed post. His hair was thicker and he wore a silver necklace and ring but they could not seem to make out the details of either. Ginny's older self knelt on the bed behind Harry, her chest leaning against his back. Her hair was much longer and she wore a silver necklace as well, but just as with the older Harry they could not tell what it was. Her left hand snaked under his and rested on his chest while her right was firmly wrapped around his manhood.

Both preteens stared wide-eyed as the older Ginny pumped the older Harry, her free hand slowly rubbing along his chest as she kissed along the right side of his neck and shoulder. They listened as the older Harry groaned and moaned out his pleasure.

"Merlin!" Harry whispered, his face bright red. He couldn't believe what he was seeing! He wanted to look away but he couldn't. His eyes were stuck on the sight before him. He never thought he would even imagine himself in such a situation as what he was seeing. How was he seeing this? Was this his imagination or was this some future event? It had to be the future. It was him standing there for Merlin's sake! With jewelry that he didn't own, and with his best friend. His best friend who was also clearly older and looked really nice even though he wasn't seeing everything. If this really was a future event, did that mean that they would eventually start dating? Was tonight the start of it or had it already started when the urges began to make themselves known to them?

_That's me. I can't believe that's me! _Ginny thought as she stared at what she thought was her future self. Her hair was much longer and from her angle she could see that her chest was much more developed. Not only that but she was clearly confident in what she was doing because her older self was not hesitating in pleasuring the older Harry. _And Harry! Look at him! He…he…_ she didn't even have the words to describe how good he looked. She had imagined what he would look like older since that moment on the train station platform when she was 10 when she learned that he was the Boy Who Lived. She had never imagined him looking as good as he did right this moment. _And because of that I just know this is not my imagination. This has to be real._

"Wow." Harry heard Ginny breath and he blinked and changed his focus. It was a little disorienting. It was like he could see the vision but at the same time he could also see the room he was currently in with Ginny right in front of him. He looked at her more closely and saw that her eyes were out of focus. Was she seeing what he was seeing?

"Ginny? Are you seeing this too?" he asked and watched as she blinked and frowned as she focused on him. "Do you see them? Those…older versions of us?" he asked and watched her eyes widen as she nodded her head.

"Do you really think they're us? I mean I thought they might be my imagination at first, but then I realized that I had never been able to imagine you looking so good." she said, and then blushed hard as she realized what she had just said.

Harry blinked. _She's tried to imagine what I would look like older? _He asked himself and then smiled as he realized that she had just revealed that she liked the way he looked older.

"I think they are us." he finally said as he focused on the couple once again. "I'm not sure why we're seeing…this…" he trailed off as a possible idea of why they were seeing this came to mind. "Maybe we should try what they're doing." he said as he focused back on his best friend. "Maybe that's why we're suddenly seeing this. What do you think?" he asked.

Ginny focused back on their future selves and looked at what they were doing and blushed all over again. She couldn't believe she was watching this! She couldn't believe she was doing that to him! Most of all she couldn't believe that her future self seemed to be getting as much out of that as he was. Just by looking at the look on her future self's face she could tell that she was enjoying herself. She watched as her future self opened her eyes and pulled her head away enough to look at him and at that moment she was convinced that they should try it. Her future self was giving him such a look of love that she wanted to cry at the sight.

"Yes." she breathed out as she focused back on her Harry, and could tell by the startled look in his eyes that he had seen the look her future self had given his future self. "I think we should try it." she continued and watched as he nodded and began to move off the bed.

Harry crawled off the bed, his embarrassment at being completely naked in front of his best friend who happened to be a girl was forgotten in the aftermath of the look he had seen her future self give his future self. No one had ever looked at him that way and after his time with his relatives he didn't think anyone ever would, he didn't think he deserved such a look.

As he stood there half seeing their future selves and thinking about the look the future Ginny had given his future self, he felt his Ginny move behind him and move her slender left arm under his and rest her hand on his chest. He felt her lay her head against his shoulder and held his breath as he felt her free hand wrap around his manhood and begin to move.

Ginny couldn't believe what she was doing. She was only 11! She shouldn't be doing this, but at the same time her mind was telling her otherwise. Apparently the vision was as well. She focused mostly on seeing their future selves so she would know what to do. Harry hadn't said anything, but then what did she expect him to say?

Harry stood there listening to his future self groan and watching as the hand on his future self began to move faster. He supposed it was the combination of watching and hearing his future self's reaction and feeling Ginny's small hand slowly pumping him that finally got to him. He started to breathe quicker and could feel his heart begin to beat faster. Was this what he was supposed to feel when a girl touched him? He thought it was seeing as how his future self seemed to be in the advanced stages of it.

He felt his legs starting to tremble and moved his left hand to wrap around the post of the bed, finally understanding why his future self was clinging to it, and licked his lips as he watched his older self wrap his hand around the older girls hand and began to move faster. Harry moaned, he could no longer hold it in as his stomach trembled and his bits began to tingle. He had never felt anything like it, but he was sure that he liked the feeling. He wondered if this is what the older students did in broom closets besides snogging.

Ginny's eyes widened as she heard and felt Harry moan. It was working! She couldn't believe that she was causing him to have that kind of reaction. She wasn't feeling anything other than curiosity at what she was doing, but that was okay. As long as one of them was getting the desired reaction she was fine.

She decided to see if she could help him more. Her older self had latched her lips onto his neck and began to suck and lick at the warm skin, so she moved her head and brought her lips to his neck and gave a tentative kiss. She heard him gasp and she continued on with a little more confidence. Harry moaned again and she felt his hips begin to move in rhythm with her hand. She stopped sucking on his neck as it dawned on her that it would leave a mark and she didn't want him to have to explain that, but she continued to lick and kiss up and down his neck.

Harry closed his eyes and leaned his head back, resting it on Ginny's shoulder. He briefly thought the action would block his view of the vision but he needn't worry. He could still see it perfectly and noticed that they seemed to be doing everything that their older selves were doing except a few things. His and Ginny's free hands were stationary, but his wasn't for long. He covered her small hand around him with his and began to pump faster than she was going. Suddenly he stiffened and cried out as the pressure he had felt building exploded.

Ginny gasped in surprise as she heard Harry cry out suddenly and watched as some fluid came shooting out of his bits. She wondered what it was and if that was supposed to happen as she felt him trembling against her and listened to his quick breaths. It was more than clear that he had enjoyed what she did to him, but she wondered why she hadn't felt anything. Her older self had.

"It's changing!" she heard Harry gasp out making it clear that he was still trying to catch his breath. She focused back on the vision and saw that their older selves were moving back onto the bed.

Harry watched, finally releasing his hold of Ginny's hand around him, as Ginny's older self lay down on the bed revealing her body in a way that they hadn't seen before. Her body was toned and he had the feeling she got a lot of exercise. He also couldn't help seeing that her breasts would get much bigger then they currently were. _Baseballs…or large oranges._ he idly thought as he stared at the round mounds.

He shook his head to try and redirect his focus. His eyes roamed and he noticed that they still couldn't see what her necklace was. _Mine either for that matter._ he thought with slight amusement as he finally noticed his older self settle into a reclining position next to older Ginny's right side and let his right hand roam over her body starting at her neck.

"I'm guessing this means it's your turn." Harry said as he glanced at Ginny's face. She was still leaning against him but her eyes were dazed looking as she focused on what she was seeing.

Ginny didn't respond but she did move to lay down on the bed. She wondered if she would soon be feeling what her older self was. She certainly looked like she was enjoying herself. Still, she tried to distract herself by trying to see what kind of ring older Harry was wearing but still couldn't see it clearly enough.

"I wonder if we're not supposed to see the jewelry for a reason." Ginny said as Harry settled next to her.

"Maybe it's so we won't go out looking for them before we're supposed to have them, or get them just because we had already seen ourselves wearing them." Harry responded as he watched his older self's hand move between older Ginny's legs and rub slowly.

Harry blinked as he watched older Ginny part her legs more for him, and wondered if he could really bring himself to do that to his best friend. Then he mentally smacked himself. Of course he could do it. Not only had she done it for him but it was the reason they were in that room. He wanted to try and make her feel what he had, but was afraid he wouldn't do it right. Was there a certain way to touch her? A particular spot? What if he hurt her instead of making her feel good?

He decided to start the same way his older self did. He brought his hand to the side of her neck and gently stroked up and down before drifting down to what he was going to privately call her 'little snitches'. At least until he thought of something better. He caressed them, still very fascinated with them, before moving down her stomach and feeling for the second time that night the little red hairs at the apex between her legs.

Ginny tried to relax as she felt Harry's hand move along her body similar to how his older self did but not quite the same. When his hand reached between her legs she parted them a bit, realizing he was going to need room to move. She was nervous; just about as nervous as she was when they first arrived in the room, but at the same time she was curious. She wanted to feel what her older self was. She wanted to experience the same pleasure Harry had.

With that in mind Ginny focused on the vision, watching older Harry's hand move rhythmically and her older self's body squirm in response. She listened to the soft sounds her older self made, and suddenly began to feel a tingling feeling between her legs. A feeling that intensified and made her squirm when Harry rubbed against the soft round little ball at the top of her female parts. Her best friend seemed to pick up on that because he began to focus on that spot while occasionally running his fingers along the rest of her female parts.

The green eyed boy lay there transfixed as he watched the duel vision of his Ginny and the older Ginny move around as his fingers worked between his best friend's legs. He understood almost immediately that the little bud he had felt made her feel more than anything else he did so he mainly focused on that and was rewarded when she closed her eyes and began to make sounds of her own.

He watched his Ginny's lips part slightly and felt her legs do the same as her soft sounds began to turn into moans. He was curious about the wetness coating his fingers and wondered if that was supposed to happen. Would it happen every time she was touched in such a way? Would she let him touch her this way again? Did he want to? As he listened to both Ginny's moan and felt his best friend move her hips against his hand he realized that he did want to touch her this way again. He didn't know if she had felt anything when touching him this way, but he could feel his bits tingling and getting hard just watching and hearing her react to what he was doing to her.

Harry watched his older self lower his mouth to one of older Ginny's breasts and wondered briefly if he should so the same before simply doing so. It was soft and warm in his mouth and he could feel his Ginny moan. He copied the older Harry's movement, his tongue swirling around the pink points and his mouth suckling. She must have liked it because he felt her arms wrap around his head as if to hold him in place as his fingers moved faster against her. Moving faster had felt better to him so he hoped it would be the same for her as well.

Ginny couldn't believe she was feeling this way. She could hardly believe she was acting this way! Wasn't she too young for this?! Wasn't Harry too young?! And yet their ages didn't stop the thoughts or urges from nearly driving them to distraction. And it did feel good. She found she liked the sensation of his tongue on her breasts even though there wasn't much there, and she wanted his fingers to move faster against her. She understood now why he had taken a hold of her hand around him and moved faster. She just wished she could do the same to him.

Instead, she tried to move her hips faster but that sadly didn't work and she heard herself whimpering at the failure. Luckily Harry chose that moment to rub his fingers against her faster. She arched against him at the feelings coursing through her body and gasped for air. She squirmed and trembled as the feelings overwhelmed her and nearly screamed as something in her burst. She clung to the boy next to her, her body tense as the feelings rushed through her, before relaxing and panting for air as she slowly lowered her arms from around his head.

Harry lifted his head and looked at Ginny's flushed face with a smile and a triumphant feeling spreading through him. He had made her feel the same way she had made him feel. And he hadn't hurt her like he feared. Although if he were honest he had almost flinched when she cried out. He wondered if he had been that loud and decided that he really didn't want to know. So instead he focused on what his fingers were feeling. They were wetter than before and he could feel a throbbing sensation coming from her female bits that had him curious but he chose to move his hand away instead of exploring.

"Another one?" Ginny stated questioningly as Harry looked at his moist fingers. He blinked and focused his gaze on what was happening in the vision playing out before his eyes.

They watched as older Harry leaned up and kissed older Ginny in a way that they had both seen older students in the castle do. Neither of them thought they could pull that off without practice, but what really caught their attention and shocked the both of them was watching as Harry's older self moved on top of older Ginny and settled between her legs where he proceeded to take himself in hand and push into her.

The younger couple gasped as the older couple moaned in unison. It was quite obvious what the older couple was doing, especially when older Harry began to rock against older Ginny at they continued to kiss.

"We..we can't..can't do that…can we?" Ginny asked, her focus riveted on the older couple as her older self began to run her fingers through older Harry's hair.

Younger Harry shrugged slowly, completely speechless as he watched their older selves do an act that they should not be seeing. He wanted to look away or close his eyes but knew it would do him no good. There would be no escape, he would still be forced to see it.

"Maybe…" Harry began but trailed off as he watched his older self kiss his partner's neck and caress her leg as it wrapped around one of his legs. "Maybe we could do something…similar I guess?" he half suggested half asked. "We wouldn't be seeing this if we weren't supposed to act on it in some way." he finished reasonably.

Ginny nodded but just could not tare her focus away from the older couple. She finally did however when she felt her Harry move on top of her. His face looked as red as she thought hers was, and she just knew her heart was going to burst from her chest it was beating so hard.

"Let's just kiss to start." Harry suggested, pulling up all the Gryffindor courage he had to make the move he had. He watched her nod nervously and moved to press his lips to hers. It felt different. He actually felt something this time instead of the nothingness the last time they tried kissing. His body was still excited from watching the reaction she had to what he had been doing to her moments before and kissing her made the excitement stronger.

Ginny drew on her Gryffindor courage as well and kissed her crush back. Her lips pressing more firmly against his before they drew back and did so again. Just like Harry, this time around she felt something. She couldn't describe it but she liked it. It made her feel warm.

The young couple eventually tuned out the vision as they got use to their version of kissing and feeling the warmth of skin against skin. After a while Ginny's legs parted to allow Harry to seat himself comfortably between her legs as her fingers found their way into his messy hair. Harry decided it was time to try a modified version of the vision they had seen. He rocked against her, rubbing himself against her, and heard and felt her instantly gasp against his lips. He nearly gasped himself at how it felt and immediately did it again with the same result.

They soon settled into a rhythm. Moving their hips against each other and kissing, trying to bring back the intense sensations they had caused each other earlier. The couple soon succeeded, moving against each other faster, no longer kissing, unable to focus on the simple action. They held each other close, moaning and panting into each other's neck, trying to move faster without breaking their rhythm. Suddenly Ginny tensed and cried out, her back arching as Harry continued to move trying to find his release. It came moments later as his body stiffened, his hips jerking forward as he groaned.

Neither youth noticed the bright white light surrounding them, but they would eventually notice the effects of it.

The couple moved to lay side by side as they caught their breath. Both lost in thought for a short while as they calmed down. It wasn't long before Harry turned to Ginny. He brought a hand up and gently touched her cheek, causing her to turn to him. They gazed into each other's eyes, looking for something, before Harry leaned in and kissed her. His body was no longer excited but he still liked the feeling kissing his Ginny gave him, and it was obvious by her reaction that she felt the same.

After a few more kisses they decided it was time to leave since they were getting tired. They got dressed as quickly as possible, kissed once more, and called for Fawkes. The fiery phoenix appeared in a flash of red flames and a burst of joyous song before he drifted down to the couple and returned them to their common room the same way they had come.

Harry and Ginny thanked Fawkes and then walked up the dormitory stairs before facing each other at the top.

"We'll talk tomorrow." Harry said quietly as he ran his fingers through Ginny's hair. His best friend nodded before they shared a quick kiss and went their separate ways.

* * *

><p>Harry quietly entered his dorm room and slipped into bed. He sighed quietly as he took off his glasses. He could hardly believe what had happened that night. He thought about the thoughts and urges that had spurred them toward what had happened and realized that they were gone.<p>

_Well, mostly gone. They're still there in the back of my mind, but they're not all over the place interfering with every other thought I have._ he thought as his eyes roamed around the dark confines of his bed, listening to the snores of his roommates.

He was still surprised that he had felt anything that night and wondered if he would have without the visions. He hadn't even noticed when the last one stopped. They were definitely a shock and now that he wasn't seeing them and just thinking about them, he was reminded all over again about how they most likely should have been too young for the thoughts and feelings they had had since they started.

_These urges as well._ his thoughts added. _But then if I'm __**thinking **__I'm too young does that mean I'm really not? I mean if I actually have to think about it then I'm clearly not right?_ he questioned himself but since he couldn't answer that he decided to move on to something more important.

His best friend and his feelings for her.

He definitely cared for her and liked being around her. He trusted her and she was easy to talk to. He could be himself without having to worry about being judged. He liked that she encouraged him and praised him when he did well in class or on his homework. She never made him feel less of a person or stupid because he didn't study every minute of the day. He also enjoyed helping her when she asked him for help and was always happy when she did instead of assuming automatically that he wouldn't know the answer.

He especially liked when she suggested he make new friends. Ron and Hermione had seemed to want to keep him to themselves. She also never pressured or guilted him into doing something she wanted to do that he didn't. Then there was the fact that she was very pretty and his fascination with her hair. He was definitely attracted to her, especially after what happened that night. Not to mention those visions basically showed them that they would be together when they were older.

All in all, he had real feelings for Ginny and they had only gotten stronger that night, but he still wanted some time to pass in order to make sure his feelings weren't going to fade. After all, just because they would be together when they were a few years older didn't mean it would start right now.

_Besides, if my feelings grow in that time then that can only be a good thing._ he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

*s*S*s*

Ginny slipped into her dorm room and froze as she listened for any noise. It wasn't unusual for two of her roommates to wake up and start talking. Luckily tonight wasn't one of those nights. She rushed to her bed, quickly slipped past the curtains and got under her cool covers. She sighed lightly as she blinked in the dark.

Her mind was blank at the moment but her tingling lips quickly fixed that. She touched her lips softly. She had just kissed Harry Potter goodnight. Her best friend and the boy she was now positive she had very strong feelings for. Gone was her crush on The Boy Who Lived and in its place were genuine feelings for Harry.

She sighed dreamily and smiled softly but that was quickly replaced by a fiery blush as the nights events seeped into the forefront of her mind. She couldn't believe she had seen Harry completely naked! What was even more shocking was that she had let him see her naked. No one had seen her that way since she was a baby, and despite all that happened that night she still didn't think she was old enough for anyone to see her that way.

But Harry had seen her that way. Had gotten a very thorough look in fact. If any guy was going to see her that way she was glad it was him. He was her best friend after all and she trusted him, and beside that she did have feelings for him. Those thoughts and urges that had mysteriously showed up had forced the issue, and even though she was concerned about not being old enough, she didn't regret what they did in any way.

She had always thought Harry was cute. From her first glimpse of him when she was ten all the way to this very moment. Although after tonight her attraction to him had officially gone past the cute stage. She absolutely loved his messy hair and his emerald eyes always mesmerized her. And the visions of what he would look like when he was older only enhanced the attraction she had for him now.

Ginny closed her eyes as she remembered the way he looked at her and the things he made her feel. The complete fascination and awe in his eyes did wonders for her self-esteem. No one knew about her low self-esteem when it came to her body, though she was sure Harry would soon enough after what they had done. She just didn't think it was fair that her room mates were more developed then she was. Still, she would never forget how he stared at her budding breasts. It could have been because he hadn't seen a naked girl before but she thought otherwise.

And the things he made her feel once the second vision came along. She had been completely prepared to say that she was right and that she at least was too young, but that declaration had completely vanished when those amazing sensations came along. The only thing that had been running through her mind was that she didn't want it to stop.

_What is going on in my head?!_ she thought as she moaned into her pillow. _One moment I think I'm too young and the next I'm raving about how good it felt. Shouldn't it be one or the other? Why can't I decide which one it should be?_ she wondered in confusion. _I wonder if Harry is still having this problem as well. Maybe it just needs time to settle in? I don't know._ she thought with a weary sigh.

Even with the confusion she was still sure of a few things. One, she was positive her feelings for Harry were getting stronger. Two, she liked it when he kissed her and couldn't wait for him to do it again. Three, she wanted him to touch her again. She wanted him to make her body feel alive.

_Hopefully I'll dream about it._ she thought before sleep claimed her.

* * *

><p>After that night Harry and Ginny found themselves going off by themselves at lunch and after class to practice kissing and to touch. People were already use to them disappearing together, so they didn't have to worry about people noticing anything different.<p>

Harry had quickly started to carry his invisibility cloak with him all the time so even when they found a private place, they wouldn't have to risk being seen. And when they decided to disappear during lunch they made sure to grab some food from the great hall and picnic at whatever spot they chose.

One evening after classes let out found Harry and Ginny under a seldom used bridge, lying in the grass under his invisibility cloak giving each other openmouthed kisses. Harry had one arm wrapped around Ginny while the other was down her knickers rubbing the little nub that excited her body. Ginny had one arm around his neck and the other hand plowing through his hair, making it even messier. They did their best to remain as quiet as possible and to not move as much. There was always the possibility that someone could pass over the bridge and they didn't want to be heard or have an eagle eyed student see an arm or leg appearing out of nowhere.

Harry listened to Ginny moan quietly into his mouth as his mind was distracted by the memory of their talk after what they called 'the night of experimentation'. They had waited until their last class before meeting in the common room and walking out to 'their tree' together. Once they settled down in their usual spots they sat awkwardly and blushing.

*s*S*s*

_Harry sighed and decided he would go first and get it over with before someone came along and interrupted them._

"_I really liked what we did last night." he began quietly, his fingers trailing through her red locks. "I was shocked by a lot of it, but who wouldn't be if it was their first time for all of it. Besides the shock I enjoyed it. I liked the way you made me feel and I liked that I seemed to be able to make you feel the same way. I'm glad it happened because it helped me be sure that I had developed real feelings for you and after last night they have gotten stronger." he finished just as quietly as he began. His embarrassment having disappeared somewhere in the middle of his little speech._

_Ginny smiled. It was now official. Harry had feelings for her and to her joy they were growing. She guessed it was her turn now._

"_I liked what happened as well. I'm still having issues with thinking I'm too young, but besides that it felt good and made my body feel alive." she said with a blush. "What we did only made my feelings for you grow." she finished and Harry nodded, glad they both felt the same about what they did._

"_If you don't mind I would still like to wait a little longer for my feelings to develop further. From the visions it's obvious we'll get together but still…" he said._

"_I don't mind Harry." Ginny cut in, and she truly didn't mind. She also thought the visions made it clear that they would start dating at some point, but she was willing to wait until Harry felt comfortable with making it official. She also had a feeling it was a trust issue, a test, even if it was done unconsciously. She wouldn't betray his trust. She would be patient and wait._

"_Thank you." Harry said with a sigh of relief. Now he just had to figure out how to bring up that he wanted to continue what they started the night before._

"_I really liked the kissing." Ginny said shyly._

"_So did I." he agreed just as shyly._

"_And the touching." she added._

"_Same here." he said with a smile. "Does that mean you wouldn't mind doing it again?" he asked, wanting to be sure he was correctly getting her meaning._

"_No I wouldn't mind." she agreed and took a deep courage filled breath. "In fact, I think we could use the practice." she said boldly._

"_Practice it is then." he said with a grin, understanding that 'practice' meant doing it more than once._

*s*S*s*

He was brought back to the present by the feel of Ginny's hips thrusting against his hand. He could tell she was getting close to her release so he began to rub her faster. That was all it took as she soon began to moan louder and practically screamed into his mouth.

Harry released her mouth so she could get a decent amount of air and removed his hand from her knickers as he watched her regain her breath. Once she had she wasted no time undoing his belt and pants and slipping her hand into his boxers to return the favor.

Ginny smiled before she kissed Harry and as she stroked him she wondered if she could make him feel as good as he did her faster than he had. She thought it would be fun to try.


	3. Beginnings of the Bond & Sudden Amnesia

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Harry Potter or his characters, and have no right to it except as a long time fan.**

**Secrecy**

_**The Beginnings of the Bond and Sudden Amnesia**_

Harry and Ginny's private activities continued between their studying, homework, quidditch, and spending time with their friends. The new activity didn't slow them down or interfere with anything. It only helped to bring them closer together.

However, it wasn't long before they began to notice that they were sensing emotions that weren't their own that seem to switch off and on at various points throughout the day. Sometimes they were there, staying for hours, and sometimes there were only flashes or nothing for hours or days at a time. It had driven them to distraction more than they liked before they learned to tune it out when necessary.

Ginny would be in class, busy focusing on the professor and taking notes, when she would suddenly get the sense of being extremely bored and tired only to realize later that Harry had been in History of Magic at the time. Harry on the other hand would be concentrating on a potion he was brewing when he would suddenly get the feeling of being extremely amused only for it to suddenly cut off and leave him confused until he remembered later on that Ginny had Charms at the same time.

It wasn't hard for them to put together what was happening and understand that they were sensing each other's emotions. They were obviously curious about it and wondered why and how it was happening but they weren't worried. Eventually whatever it was solidified into place and they could sense each other's emotions all the time.

"Why do you think it's happening?" Ginny asked Harry as they walked out on the grounds after breakfast during the beginning of the weekend.

"I don't know." Harry said with a frown. "Have you ever heard of something like this happening?" He asked as he wondered if it was something common in the wizarding world.

"No." She answered a little glumly. "This is something I would definitely remember hearing about." She added.

"Well I think it's safe to add this to what's been happening to us." He said reasonably. "First the sudden urges, then those shared visions, and now sensing each other's emotions. There has to be a connection somewhere."

"The visions…" Ginny began hesitantly before trailing off. She bit her lip and glanced to Harry and found him watching her. He nodded encouragingly and she started again with more confidence. "The visions seem to happen because of the urges and sensing each other's emotions didn't start until after our 'night of experimentation' as if it was a result of that night." She said quietly.

Harry considered that and knew she was right when he really thought about it. The visions had seemed almost like instructions once they got passed the fact that they were seeing older versions of themselves. It was like they were being shown what to do in order to get the urges under control. He didn't know what purpose there would be to knowing what Ginny was feeling at any given time.

_Maybe it's just to bring us closer together then we already are. Like just now I sensed her hesitance to share her opinion and was able to encourage her to continue. That could only be a good thing. Especially with our feelings for each other._ He thought with a nod before looking to his best friend.

"You're right. The visions showed us what to do about the urges, and I think that sensing each other's emotions is just to help bring us closer together." He explained. "It's obviously just a connection between the two of us, so knowing that should help." He added.

"A connection…" Ginny repeated as she tried to think pass the fact that she could sense his certainty. "I remember overhearing Bill when he was talking about something he found during his work in Egypt. I can't remember exactly what it was but I _do_ remember him mentioning a connection between the people involved…a bond they had. I didn't understand what he meant and he didn't go into detail but I'm thinking that that might be what we have. Some sort of bond." She explained.

"Well the only way to find out is to figure out what a bond is and what kinds there are. So let's head to the library and see if we can find anything." Harry said as he turned around to head back toward the castle.

To their disappointment the library didn't contain any information on bonds or if it did then it was located in the restricted section. After giving it some thought Harry said it was probably a good thing that they didn't find anything because at the very least Madame Pince would know what they had been reading and he would rather have no one know they were pursuing such books. Especially since to everyone else they had no reason to read them. He would just look during the summer and let her know if he found anything.

* * *

><p>Harry slammed the door behind him as he stormed out of the Potions classroom. He knew that this incident would be all over the castle by the end of the lunch hour but he really didn't give a damn. He was so angry.<p>

What had he ever done to that man to make him hate him so much? He didn't even know the man existed until he stepped foot into the great hall his first year. The man seemed to take offense to him simply because his name was Potter and the wizarding world had decided he was going to be famous because of something he had no memory of! What right did that man have to treat him the way he always did?! He knew that everyone other than Slytherin's were treated badly, but he seemed to have it worse than anyone for seemingly no reason at all.

He shouldn't have to deal with that kind of treatment! And he definitely shouldn't have to pay for it. He wasn't stupid. Most first and second year students might not realize that Hogwarts wasn't a free school but he knew very well that it wasn't. His tuition came from his trust vault, and with every Potions class he attended the angrier he became at having to basically pay Snape to treat him like shit!

As Harry made his way to the Gryffindor tower he could sense Ginny's concern, but she was still in class and there was nothing he could do to relieve it until lunch began.

After storming angrily through the castle he finally reached the Gryffindor tower and entered the portrait hole before making his way up to his dorm room. He tossed his book bag on his trunk and sat on his bed trying his best to relax and calm down.

Harry mentally went over what happened in Potions and his anger flared again but suddenly fizzled out as depression began to take over. Was it really so hard to hope that he would be able to get away from such treatment in the wizarding world? Was it not enough that he had to deal with it from his relatives?

_And the situation with Ron and Hermione only adds on to it. My former best friend paid to be my friend by my headmaster and somehow making me do things I didn't want to do, and my other former close friend, supposedly the smartest witch of our age, seemingly oblivious to it all._ He thought bitterly. It still hurt to know that his first friends had either been manipulating him or oblivious to what had to have been irrational and erratic behavior on his part for a year.

Thinking about his former close friends and their behavior or lack thereof brought his thoughts back to his relatives, the people he was forced to live with because he had nowhere else to go. They had treated him like a slave since he was old enough to remember. Beating him, forcing him to cook all their meals and denying him any of it, ordering him to clean any and everything they could think of, and allowing their son to treat him any way he wished.

Harry remembered the many times he had wished to be free of them. Free of them by _any_ means necessary, and the many times he had taken action to make that happen, wishing he could be with his parents and certain he would be happier with them in death.

He remembered his treatment just that summer. The mad house elf that had decided to interfere in his life which caused his uncles dinner with his client to be ruined and blamed on him. What leverage he had against them was gone once they realized he wasn't allowed to do magic outside of school. He'd gone from being a semi-human being to be pretty much made a prisoner in his cousin's second bedroom. Even Hedwig had been locked up in her cage.

He was positive that he wouldn't have made it to Hogwarts for his second year if he hadn't been rescued. But now even that happy memory was tainted. Why had Ron rescued him? Was it on Dumbledore's orders? Had the old man even known? Had Ron thought the act would cement their friendship even further? Or had Ron just wanted him there to keep an eye on him himself? Maybe start keeping him away from Ginny early on so it wouldn't seem strange once they made it to the castle.

Whatever the reason Harry didn't care. Ginny had proven why she was a Gryffindor and spoke to him, and now they were the best of friends and becoming closer every day. Ron had not been able to keep them apart. He was no longer a close friend so Harry hopefully wouldn't have to worry about his interference anymore.

He was so very tired of being treated the way he was. That needed to change. He needed to make it happen somehow. The easiest place to start, he knew, was to get away from his relatives, but even that would be difficult.

_Still, it needs to be done or who knows what my mind will be like come next year._ He thought quietly before a chime suddenly sounded, announcing that classes were over and lunch had begun.

Harry made his way down to the common room and sat in an arm chair facing the portrait hole to wait for Ginny. She arrived quickly, her concern having long before morphed into worry, and upon spotting him immediately went to his side.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Ginny asked breathlessly when she was close enough, proving that she had hastily made her way to the tower.

"Not here." Harry said quietly, refusing to have his private business overheard. It was bad enough the incident would spread at all, and he didn't want his personal thoughts added to it. "Let's go somewhere else." He added.

"Okay. Let me put my bag away." Ginny said and barely waited for a reply before rushing up to her dorm to toss her bag on her bed. Moments later she was back and they were leaving the common room.

They found a deserted corridor on the fourth floor and entered an unused classroom. After closing the door they cleaned a pair of chairs and settled down.

Ginny didn't speak. She simply took hold of his hand and waited.

"You know I had Potions earlier." He began in a calm soft voice and Ginny nodded. "Snape was his usual self but today he seemed set on aggravating me specifically. I was working with Neville and we were doing okay as far as I could tell, but Snape was practically standing next to me the whole time watching us or rather watching _me_ make our potion." He said with a frown.

"He kept giving me snide remarks and sneers before going to someone else or walking around the room inspecting cauldrons, only to come back and continue where he left off." Harry continued as he remembered Neville's simultaneous look of fear and sympathy.

"The potion we had been working on required us to turn off the fire and let it sit for a few minutes before we had to turn in our sample. That's when Snape said…"

"_Our little precious Gryffindor seems to be having trouble completing this task. Of course, you could never really accomplish anything without any help. You're useless Potter. If it wasn't for that know it all twit Granger, you never would have passed the first year. Are you going to hide behind her skirts for the rest of your life? Have her solve all your problems. Is she a substitute for your mummy, Potter?"_

_Harry's eye twitched and he frowned deeply as he curled his hands into tight fists. A light breeze began to swirl around him, ruffling his messy hair and pushing at his robes, demonstrating just how angry he really was._

"_What is your problem?!" He snapped, yelling so loudly that the entire room was plunged into silence as he got to his feet and turned on the Potions professor. "Why are you always singling me out? Sneering at me all the time as if I had done something to you, taking points off for the most ludicrous reasons! What have I __ever__ done to have you treat me this way?! And I can't __believe__ you had the audacity to mention my mother, and compare her to a second year student!" He raged, the magical breeze he was unknowingly producing picking up speed._

"_Did you have problems with her like you apparently had a problem with my father? You would probably be happy if I had…" Harry cut himself off and glared at the speechless man before grabbing his book bag and storming out of the silent room, missing the fact that he had apparently glared hard enough to set the professors robes on fire._

"What did you stop yourself from saying?" Ginny asked cautiously, sensing his depression. She remained quiet, forcing herself not to speak as the silence continued.

"That he would probably be happy if I had died with my parents…and so would I." He replied quietly as he stared down at their clasped hands.

"Oh Harry." Ginny whispered as she squeezed his hand. "Why would you want to die?" She asked, unable to bring her voice above a whisper as she wondered what his life with his relatives was like to have him think such a thing.

Harry quietly told Ginny a little about life with his aunt, uncle, and cousin. He told her about the verbal abuse he constantly lived under. How until he had started muggle primary school he had been under the impression that his name was 'Freak'. He described some of the less violent beatings and how the damage would disappear overnight and how his uncle had obviously understood that his magic was healing him because the beatings got worse. After all if the damage is going to be gone the next day why not give it your all?

"They treated me like a slave Ginny. I had to do all their cooking, cleaning, and the garden work. All the while not being fed enough and constantly being berated for little things and sometimes for nothing at all. "Don't burn the food Freak", "clean it again Freak", "don't touch Dudley's toys Freak", "how dare you do better in school then Dudders you worthless Freak"." He explained solemnly.

"I didn't have friends in school because Dudley and his gang threatened to beat them if they even spoke to me. I had no friends in our neighborhood because my aunt and uncle spread the rumor that I was a juvenile delinquent and always getting into trouble. It wasn't hard to believe when they looked at my appearance. My wild hair, long oversized clothes, and unkempt look." He continued.

"They hate me Ginny. They hate that I'm a wizard, they hate that I'm my parents son, they hate that I live with them, they hate me eating their food, breathing the same air, and taking up their space." He finished and closed his eyes tiredly.

Ginny hugged Harry tightly. She didn't know what else to do or say in response to his confession. She could not believe his life. She could not believe his relatives! They sounded like the worst kind of muggles. The kind that fit the pureblood stereotypes. She wondered why he had been left with them. Surely someone had to know what they were like and how they would treat him.

"I know it's not right to think in such a dark way but I can't help it, and living with them isn't helping. I need to get away from them. I need to find somewhere else to live or my thinking will get worse, because the treatment I get from Snape is the same that I get from my relatives. Only with them they hate that I'm magical and that I exist at all." Harry stated as he held on to her, finding comfort in her arms. What was left unsaid was that he could not continue under such treatment from two sides.

"What are you going to do? What _can_ you do?" Ginny asked, wondering if doing anything was possible. She wasn't naive enough to think there was anything she could do, and she would not suggest running away to come live with her family. Aside from the issues with Ron she didn't think her parents, or at least her mother, would believe anything he said and end up sending him back or telling the headmaster who would most likely send him right back. She could just imagine from what Harry had revealed that his treatment would worsen because of the attempt. And Harry was young, only twelve, even though he would turn thirteen during the summer. What could he do?

"I'm going to find out exactly how much money I have in my vault and see if it's enough to get myself a place to live. I think I could manage it since I don't mind living alone. I've been taking care of myself since I could remember. My relatives clearly don't provide any conversation, so not having anyone to talk to would be nothing new." He explained, knowing that he would thrive on his own. Especially without the constant criticism, degrading, and threats. The only problems he could see were if he didn't have enough to pay for school, and to make sure no one found out about his being on his own so they wouldn't try and send him back.

Ginny considered Harry's words. If he had enough money to get a place and pay for school she thought it would be possible for him to do it. The problems she saw was how he would even go about finding a place and getting it all set up. Wouldn't people want to deal with an adult and question why he was taking care of things? And how would he keep people from finding out he was on his own? He would need to use magic, and he couldn't outside of school.

She quietly mentioned her thoughts while paying close attention to the emotions she sensed from her best friend.

"I hadn't thought about that, and I honestly wouldn't know the first place to look." Harry said with a frown. He also realized that getting his own place could take time. He might have to figure out how to deal with his relatives in the meantime. "Perhaps when I go check my vault I can ask the goblins for advice." He suggested. "And I also wondered about how to keep from being found out. Not only do I think it would take magic but a level of magic we haven't learned yet." He said with a depressed sigh as he tightened his hold on Ginny's hand.

"Well since there's nothing you can do until you go to Gringotts why don't you do some reading on the magic needed to hide yourself? Even if right now you can't use magic outside of school you never know if that might change." Ginny suggested, trying to get his mind going in another direction and away from the depressing thoughts.

Harry thought it was a good idea and wondered if he should go to the library instead of going to the rest of his classes, but Ginny said that he should go to his classes and deal with the looks and whispers so it wouldn't be so bad come dinner time.

After making that decision the two of them made their way back to the Gryffindor tower with Ginny telling him about her classes to distract his mind for the rest of the lunch hour.

The rest of Harry's classes went as he thought they would. Looks and whispers from his peers followed him but no one approached him and said anything. He learned from Neville what happened after he left the classroom. Everyone had been so shocked and surprised that no one even reacted to the fact that Snape had been on fire and having difficulties putting himself out. It hadn't been long before everyone began to turn in their potion samples and leave, wanting to get away from the clearly angry yet oddly silent Potions professor.

Dinner time came and Harry was startled at the reaction he got to his blow up at Snape. Most of the student body admired that he stood up to Snape, and many said they had wondered if anyone would ever have enough of his attitude and snap at the professor for his treatment, and what would happen if they did.

Not only was he startled at the reaction from his peers but he was surprised that he didn't get detention for his behavior. He wasn't approached at all by any professor. Not that he was complaining. Snape had even left him alone and completely ignored him after that incident, which did wonders for his potion making.

* * *

><p>A few days after what had been dubbed the 'Potions Incident' Harry and Ginny were sitting on a couch in the common room reading. They had done a bit of research in the library and found that many of the spells needed to keep a person hidden away were in the Charms section. So they were currently reading books on advanced Charms when Ron approached them.<p>

"Harry!" Ron said loudly as he came to a stop in front of the black haired boy. "Want to go flying?" He asked. "It's pretty nice out." He added as if that would get him a positive answer.

"Not right now Ron. I want to finish this book." Harry said as he looked up briefly from the page on glamour charms that had been holding his attention. "How about we go when I finish?" He added since he was aware that he hadn't spent much time with his former best friend in weeks, and that he did want to keep him as a friend.

"Oh come on Harry!" Ron all but whined. "You can read that book anytime, but it's not going to stay nice out for us to fly." He said, not liking that Harry wasn't immediately agreeing with him. He wanted Harry to drop what he was doing and go with him right now.

"If you're so worried about it then go without me." Harry said with a sigh. He was starting to get irritated and feeling the beginnings of Ginny's anger wasn't helping. "I want to finish this book now while I have the time." He added as he shifted to make himself more comfortable, careful to not displace Ginny who was leaning against him as was her habit. He could hardly believe Ron. It was like he expected Harry to do what he wanted just because he said so.

Harry went back to his book, not noticing the frown on the read head's face as he left.

*s*S*s*

After their last class days later on Halloween Ginny and Harry decided to hang out in the common room and continue reading from the Charms books they got from the library.

Harry went up to his dorm room to get his book, but before he even reached his trunk Ron came bursting into the room offering him some chocolate. Harry accepted it, hoping it would show Ron that he was still trying to be his friend even though they didn't spend much time together.

The rest of the afternoon was spent happily playing exploding snaps with Ron, and when dinner time came around he sat with Ron and Hermione eating and talking. Once they were back in the common room he and Ron passed the time playing wizards chess while Hermione studied nearby. It was a fairly normal evening for a Halloween but he couldn't help wondering why Ron's little sister spent so much time looking at him. He knew about her crush on him but she had never been so obvious in watching him before.

After they had finished their last game he was about to follow Ron upstairs, Hermione having gone on ahead an hour before, when Ron's sister surprised him by asking to talk to him before he went up to bed. They moved off to the side by a table under the window, facing each other in the glow of the fireplace.

"Why didn't you come read with me like we planned?" Ginny asked with a frown. "And if you had changed your mind why didn't you just say so instead of ditching me like that?" She added, still feeling hurt from his abandonment. He hadn't even looked in her direction when he and Ron came down from the dorm room.

"Why would I plan to read with someone I don't really know?" Harry asked, having no idea what she was talking about. As far as he knew the last time she had spoken to him was to wish him luck at the start of his first year when he asked for directions to get on the train platform. And that was before she knew who he was.

Ginny was shocked and hurt, not to mention confused. How could he claim to not know her after everything they had been through? She wanted to be angry but she wasn't sure what was going on. He looked just as confused as she felt. Something wasn't right.

"You would probably be happy if I had died with my parents…and so would I." Ginny whispered, repeating what he had stopped himself from saying to Snape. It was something only the two of them knew about. The only way she would know it was for Harry to have told her himself. It was proof that he did know her.

Harry's eyes widened and he sucked in a sharp breath as memories of Ginny began to flood his mind as if a damn had burst.

_I remember her._ He thought with relief and then frowned. _I forgot her. How could I forget my best friend? How could I forget what we've shared? The feelings I've developed?_ He thought, depressed as well as angry and confused.

"Come on." Harry said in a low tone as he grabbed her hand and led her out of the common room, ignoring the Fat Lady as she asked them where they were going after curfew, and to sit in a dead end corridor nearby.

"How did this happen Harry?" Ginny asked on a whisper as they sat on the floor side by side still holding hands.

"I don't know." He answered just as quietly, not wanting them to get caught out after curfew. He just wanted complete privacy. "I remember our plans to stay in the common room and read. I went to get my book but before I could Ron came in and…" He trailed off as he began to understand what happened.

"And what?" Ginny asked anxiously, wanting to know what her brother had done to the boy she cared so much about.

"He offered me some chocolate. I took it hoping it would show that I was still trying to be his friend. After that it was like…like last year and earlier this year. I didn't remember what I wanted to do. Only that Ron wanted to play games, that it was a good idea, and I wanted to do it too." He explained with a frown.

"So the chocolate made you forget me, and want to do what Ron said." Ginny stated as she wrapped her mind around that disturbing fact. It also helped her understand a little better why he had lumped Hermione with Ron. This was the first time this had happened with her around, and after speaking to Harry she had been able to tell that something was wrong. She could understand how Hermione had not noticed anything wrong with his behavior, in the beginning anyway, but she had to have noticed something off when speaking to him as time passed. How could she not?

"Yes." Harry confirmed with a nod. "There had to be something in that chocolate. A potion or something." He said as he thought back to how he had acted after eating the candy. He couldn't believe Ron! But then again he could and he was starting to wonder why he was trying to maintain their friendship with Ron continually pulling stunts like this.

"We have to be careful from now on." He said as he began to get to his feet. "I don't know if he'll try the same thing with you but just in case…" He trailed off and Ginny nodded as she gained her feet.

"Better safe than sorry." Ginny said quietly before they cautiously made their way back to the portrait hole.

On the stairs to their dormitories they shared a goodnight kiss, deciding to risk being seen in light of the days disturbing events.

After that ordeal not only did Harry stop talking to Ron, he stopped accepting anything eatable from anyone he didn't know and trust. Unfortunately a few weeks later it happened again.

Ginny and Harry planned to spend the afternoon together studying and doing their homework, among other things, and decided to meet in the common room after their last class.

Harry waited.

Ginny didn't show.

Harry sat in the common room for over an hour reading from his transfiguration text book, and looking up every time the portrait hole opened hoping to see Ginny. He couldn't understand why she hadn't shown up yet. There was nothing wrong with her emotions. They seemed normal. She was calm.

When she finally did arrive in the common room he watched her glance at him and blush madly before rushing up the dorm stairs. He instantly knew what had happened. She hadn't reacted that way in his presence since the summer. The only thing he wondered about was how it had happened. He needed to help her remember in order to ask her but she never came back down. After that he hadn't been able to catch up with her for a few days but when he did he managed to get her alone and began to talk to her. He told her things that no one else knew until she began to remember him.

Ginny looked at Harry, horrified at what had happened. She now understood how he felt when it happened to him a few weeks ago. How could she forget him? The boy she had a crush on, the boy who had become her best friend, the boy she felt so strongly for. How could she forget the way he made her body feel when he touched her? The way his kiss made her feel?

They went outside and sat beneath 'their tree' for privacy as well as to try and relax and calm down. Harry leaning back against the tree trunk, and Ginny with her head in his lap.

"How did this happen?" Harry asked as he ran his fingers through her soft hair.

"I don't know." Ginny said with a sigh as she thought back over the past few days. She remembered the last time she had spoken to him. They had made plans to study together and meet after their last class. The next time she saw him she remembered blushing and practically running to get out of the same room as him. Between those two times she hadn't eaten anything from her friends.

"Lunch time!" She said suddenly as she looked up to Harry with a slightly scared frown. "The only way someone could have gotten a…memory potion or whatever it is to me was at lunch time because I hadn't eaten anything before then. I had skipped breakfast remember." She explained.

Harry did remember because he had wanted to skip as well and spend that time with her, but decided against it since she needed the time to read for class and he didn't want to be a distraction. At lunch time he had sat with Neville and some of his older Gryffindor friends to work on their Herbology homework and she had sat with her friends.

They shared a disturbed look as they realized that not even eating in the great hall was safe. When it happened to him it made some sort of sense. Ron wanted him to do what he wanted to do and obviously not spend time with his sister, but with Ginny that didn't make sense. Who would do this to her, to them, and why? As far as anyone knew, they were just best friends and nothing more. Did someone not even want them to be friends?

"We need to do something about this or the next time we eat one or both of us will forget. If we both forget then we're in serious trouble." Harry said with a frown. This just reminded him why he didn't trust any of the adults in the castle, especially the headmaster. This was probably the headmaster's doing or if he didn't do it personally then he might have had one of the professors do it.

"Maybe we can eat in the kitchen." Ginny suggested. "That way we get our food straight from the source without any tampering."

"That would be great but we can't eat there all the time. Whoever is doing this will know something is up." He said.

"Won't they know that if we continue to spend time together?" She asked with a frown.

"Yes but hopefully they don't know that we know what's happening. If we can find some way to make our food in the great hall safe then they will think something else is interfering with what they're doing." Harry explained and Ginny nodded her understanding.

"Do you know where the kitchen is?" Ginny asked after a moment of silence.

"No." He answered. "I guess that's something we're going to have to find out if we want to eat any time soon."

"We can ask Fred and George. They seem to know where everything is." Ginny said thoughtfully.

"Well, let's go find them." Harry said and they quickly got to their feet and began to walk back to the castle. They knew that the twins might be hard to find but they were willing to put in the time if it meant they could eat dinner that night without the fear of forgetting each other.

They started with the great hall and didn't see them so they headed to the Gryffindor tower to check there. The twins weren't in the common room so they went up to the fourth year boy's dorm to check there before leaving the tower. Luckily for them the identical boys were in their room.

Fred and George were surprised to see the two of them and wasted no time asking what the two them could do for the young ones. Neither Harry nor Ginny wanted the twins to know why exactly they wanted to know where the kitchen was so they just stuck with asking and hoped the twins would leave it at that.

Fred and George assumed they wanted to be able to get food any time they wanted and had no problem showing their little sister and team mate where the kitchen was. It was a long trip from the tower to the kitchen but Harry and Ginny made sure to remember the way. They finally stopped in the middle of a corridor at a large portrait of a bowl of fruit. They were told to tickle the pear and then left on their own. Not that they had a problem with that. They were happy to be left alone for what they hoped to do.

Harry shrugged his shoulders and tickled the pear feeling a little foolish. At least until the fruit giggled and the portrait swung open to reveal a door. Ginny opened the door and they stepped in to find a room the size of the great hall with five long tables in the same place they were in the hall. Closer to the door was a smaller table and moving all around the kitchen was a fleet of house elves.

They stepped further into the room, the door closing behind them, and when the house elves noticed them they all seemed to stop and stare as if extremely awed by their presence.

"Umm…hi." Harry said as he shifted on his feet, very uncomfortable with all the eyes on them.

"Why are you staring?" Ginny asked. It wasn't as if they were the first students to ever enter the kitchen.

"Yous is glowing yous is." One squeaked in awe. "A golden-white colors." Another said, just as awed. "We's is never seens a bonded couple so's young befores." An older elf said.

Harry and Ginny were shocked by this information, but it did confirm their theory of what was happening to them. Still, they put thoughts of their bond aside and managed to explain their problem to the house elves and ask for their help.

The elves agreed to help them and keep their bond a secret from everyone, the headmaster included. They would use their elf magic to switch out their food at meal time and replace it. No one would know it was happening unless they were watching the plates. They would give off a slight flash once the switch was made. They assured the bonded couple that they would know where they were sitting by using their elf magic.

Before they left Harry asked the one thing that had been bothering him since the house elves told them that they were glowing. He asked if anyone could see their bond, and he was immediately reassured when they told them that only magical creatures could see their glow.


End file.
